Thank you, Mr. Chair.
As the member has pointed out, the provinces in Canada have also played a very important role in food safety and food inspection, that being part of the shared responsibility of the federal government and the provinces as it relates to food safety. And we certainly do congratulate the provinces on that.
When it comes to imported food products, of course that is a federal jurisdiction. The measures we have put in place verify the safety of imported foods against Canadian standards, similar to the way we verify that the Canadian industry is meeting those standards.
Those import programs are based on risk. That risk can be associated with some of the pesticides or microbial issues. It could be associated with a particular food product as well as the volume of the product, and the origin of the product may also be taken into consideration when we're doing that risk profile.
We do monitor a large number of products through our pesticide residue monitoring programs. We do hundreds of thousands of samples of these products, and that does include imported products as well as domestic. The compliance rate is very high. When it comes to pesticide residues on foods coming into Canada, the compliance rate is very high.
If there is a pesticide residue that is identified on a food product, for example, we follow up on that. We work with Health Canada to determine if there is any health risk associated with it. If there is a health risk, appropriate follow-up action will be taken, and that can include a food recall.
When we do find a pesticide residue that is of concern, we also follow up with the importer of the product, and quite frequently the country of origin as well. So if we do find an area of concern that relates to an imported product, we certainly work with the importer, because the importers are responsible for the products they bring into the country. But we may also work with the foreign government to make sure they are aware of the issue as well, and that they are taking steps to bring a product back into compliance with Canadian law.
Reference is quite frequently made to pesticides being used that are not approved for use in Canada. It is important to understand the difference between a pesticide that has not yet been presented for registration by PMRA, the Pest Management Regulatory Agency, versus a product that has been banned--it has been assessed and determined to be unsafe. If a pesticide or a veterinary drug has been assessed and is identified as being unsafe, our action is very clear and quick. We take very rigorous action on these products. If a product has not yet been assessed, there are provisions under the Food and Drugs Act and regulations that provide for a 0.1 default level. We assess the product against that default level.
When we do identify a problem area--